Talk:Hydroxyzine

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If you have any information about your experiences with hydroxyzine or cetirizine and would like to discuss them in relation to the article, please add them to User:James.Spudeman's talk page instead of here. Any further information should be referenced, and not added in list format.

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Hydroxyzine was a good article candidate, but did not meet the good article criteria at the time. Once the objections listed below are addressed, the article can be renominated. You may also seek a review of the decision if you feel there was a mistake. Date of review: 2007-03-14

I think this article should explain why this chemical is considered psychoactive. If it is not, I think this article should say that also. 1) Unless it's a false claim it is relevant to the description of the chemical and it's effects. 2) Wikipedia article on L. Ron Hubbard asserts that this substance is psychoactive which is of interest to readers of that article. I came to this page to find out about that and if it's true. For that reason this article will be doing two important things if it describes this information. A) It will be giving information relevant to the part played by the chemical in a historical situation, and B) it will be fufilling the promise of link on another page of wikipedia itself.--Jabot the Scrob 05:30, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

A lot of psychiatric medications are chemically related to antihistamines, and Vistaril seems to be mostly used as an anti-anxiety drug. It does seem to be documented fact that the drug was present in LRH's system when he died, which was in the article at one time but was excised (I put it in and I disagree with whoever deemed it irrelevant, but I didn't revert). Drugs.com lists it as a CNS depressant and antihistamine, and it sounds like the antianxiety property is a side effect of its hypnotic properties. Haikupoet 05:37, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

I'll just be the voice of reason here; i've prescribed this drug few times, particularly for shelf-life reasons. It seems to me that adverse effects occur when other CNS depressants are already active, which can be even in residual amounts. Alcohol, or other CNS affecting agents, which are stronger than hydroxyzine (which is relatively weak in terms of dependancy issues and side-effects) would have more probability of causing halluci nations, but the effects i'm aware of are confusion and grogginess if it's taken in excess. For more information, read the article again (which has been SIGNIFICANTLY improved) as well as the Hydroxyzine/reference table! James.Spudeman 13:13, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

I would like to know why so many websites say that this drug is not intended for long-term use. Not doctor has ever given me any reason why it shouldn't be prescribed long-term

The reason why it's not prescribed for long-term treatment, is because it's not a drug that was designed or manufactured for long term use. It's an anxiety-reducing drug that is used pretty much in the short term; long term is usually referring to the treatment of neurological disorders of anxiety, which aren't manifested from organic disease states. James.Spudeman 23:22, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

I have taken 25 mg every night for about ten years now and never had any adverse effects. Some doctors tell me it's a harmless drug and others refuse to prescribe it because they think it's too strong. It doesn't even make me drowsy. An allergy doctor gave it to me after years of trying to find the right meds that would keep my allergies at bay, especially at night. This drugs keeps me from waking up coughing, sneezing, and itching. Zyrtec and Allegra do not work at all for me. I take Clarinex during the day, but it does not last the full 24 hours. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Slanoue (talk • contribs). 03:04, 1 July 2006

I can speak only from personal experience with hydroxyzine, and in doing so I'd say it's psychoactive because it (in me anyway) caused intense nightmares. Also, like most other medicines of this type, if you take enough of it, it becomes a dissociative, like diphenhydramine and dextromethorphan. The effect of hydroxyzine intoxication is not unlike being drunk, really, only you feel heavier and you aren't capable of thinking straight, so there's no "drunken ephiphany" moments that characterize drunkenness at times. Oh, and I have chronic rhinitis, and ironically this stuff didn't help me with that at all. Avalyn 11:11, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

I've also never had any side effects from this drug, except maybe drowsiness the next day. It hasn't had hypnotic effects by it, like I get sometimes from Zolpidem (which is addictive, unlike Hydroxyzine). (Entheta 20:51, 2 July 2006 (UTC))

Hydroxyzine is one of my favorite drugs. I use it at night when called out during emergencies and I have to get up in the morning at 7 AM. It completely stops dreaming and makes cat naps more effective even if they only last 10 minutes. I suspect that those of you who have difficulty with this drug may have some obstruction to breathing that causes the bad dreams you report. Fungal infections of the sinuses are far more common than literature reports, and most of us have problems with monilial infections. The suppression of dreams also occurs with another hydroxyzine derivative, phenelzine. Instead of completly turning off dreams, it just shuts down the volume. Because phenelzine causes a mild secretion of dopamine, it also causes a very mild euphoria that makes such dreams more pleasant. For this purpose one 15 mg. tablet at bedtime will suffice. Like hydroxyzine, phenelzine passes the blood-brain barrier in 10 minues. For reasons I have not given, one tablet of phenelzine will stop a migraine headache. → Thomas Lee Taylor 16:27, 2 November 2006 (UTC)MagusPhysician 11/2/06.

Why is this drug perscribed? Atarx,Vistaril (Hydroxyzine hydrochloride) Atarx is an antihistimine used to relieve the symptoms of common anxiety and tension and, in combination with other medications to treat anxiety that result from physical illness...

Most Important fact about this medication Atarax is not intended for long time use (no more than 4 months)...

Special warnings about this medication Atarax increases the effects of drugs that depress the activity of the central nervous system...

I was perscribed Vistaril while in the hospital. The doctor was attempting to use Vistaril to increase the mild sedative effects of an anti-anxiety medication I was taking to tx. the insomnia I have been experiancing for years. This anti-anxiety medication is intended to tx. anxiety and panic attacks, not to tx. insomnia. For 9 months I was taking 50-100mgs of Vistaril at bedtime and the effects were minimal in regards to tx. the insomnia but enough to help me sleep for 4hrs and then I would wake-up. All of the side effects of extreme drowziness, confusion, dizziness, etc. went away after the first month. What I did experiance is the stimulant medication I was take during the 9th month was beginning to deminish in effectiveness and duration between doses. I thought I was becoming tolerant to the doses so I had to increase the medication doses and take it more often. It was a very unusual onset of tolerance, within 4 days I had to increase the stimulant medication. I knew that something was not right about this sudden occurrence of tolerance to a medication which I have been able to consistently maintain the same doses without any change in the duration or effectiveness. It took me two weeks until I decided to look up the medication interaction between the stimulant and other medications(During my research I never discovered any information about Vistaril effecting other medications except those that also depress the CNS). What I did discover is antihistimines will decrease and/or alter stimulants; because, it depresses the activity of the CNS. The longer you take Vistaril the more of it is stored in the liver and released with ever increasing effectiveness. It did not have a substantial impact in regards to tx. the insomnia but it did certainly mess me up with the consistent benefit I was receiving from the stimulant medication. After stoping the Vistaril the characteristics I once experianced from the stimulant medication has indeed been altered; It is less effective, does not last as long and I have been experiancing other adverse side effects which were not present prior to taking Vistaril. I have researched a half dozen other similar antidepressants and Vistaril is the only antihistimine which is specifically intended to depress the activity of the CNS and increase the effects of other CNS depressant medications. This is why you are not supposed to take it for long periods of time. The longer you are on Vistaril the more effective it is in depressing the CNS and decreasing and/or altering other medications. More importantly, the CNS is contionously in a state of being depressed and deregulating the activity of the CNS which might have irreversible effects over long periods of time. user:Mark D. BidemaDecember 3, 2006 (UTC); Ref. "The PDR Pocket Guide To Perscription Drugs", 1996 Medical Economics Co.,Inc.

Contents 1 GA removed 2 Neuropsychosis? 3 Note to those wishing to add L Ron Hubbard and "in popular fiction" information to this article 4 Good Article Review 5 Adverse effects

[edit] GA removed

I removed the GA tag since this article has not formally gone through the GAC process that all articles must go through to reach GA. Editors who contribute significantly to articles cannot determine GA status themselves. Good work on the article, but please nominate it properly to be reviewed by another editor. Let me know if you have any questions. --Nehrams2020 17:28, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Neuropsychosis?

...used in the treatment of neurological disorders, such as neuropsychosis and other forms of anxiety or tension states.

Is "neuropsychosis" supposed to be "psychoneurosis" (i.e. neurosis)? --Galaxiaad 09:51, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

(JCraw and James.Spudeman replied on my userpage that they're the same; "neuropsychosis" is just an older word no longer used)

OK, thank you! --Galaxiaad 22:36, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Note to those wishing to add L Ron Hubbard and "in popular fiction" information to this article

First and foremostly, i refuse to add this information on moral grounds; i found him a morally reprehensible man, and one of the worst human beings to ever live, with general atrocities to humanity that make me feel physically ill. Regardless, my live and let live attitude prevails, and i have no problems with people adding information related to him or other cultural references, with the following proviso; ANY UNREFERENCED INFORMATION WILL BE REMOVED; this will not become an article with a huge list of cultural references with minutial information, such as "X celebrity took hydroxyzine once". James.Spudeman 18:33, 11 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Good Article Review

This article holds some useful information, but has major problems in terms of structure, focus and relevance. I've detailed my assessment on each of the good article criteria below.

1. Well written: The first concern I have about this article is its structure. There are two main headings, "Prescription and use" and "clinical description." I'm not sure what they mean - the first seems to contain a mixture of indications and basic research of dubious or unexplianed relevance to the drug's use in humans. The subhead "treatment of learned helplessness" begins by suggesting that hydroxyzine "shown slight possibilities for use in other species, such as dogs." It then goes on to describe, in detail, experiments on learned helplessness in mice, but fails to explain what the significance of these experiments is. If I remember correctly, LH is typically used as a model for depression, yet depression is not mentioned in this section, and I have no idea how this relates to 'use in dogs.'

The structure of the subheads under the second main heading, "Metabolism and pharmacokinetics," "contraindications," and "adverse reactions" are more logical, although each of theses sections still contains a few non-sequitors, e.g. contrasting 'reports of hallucinogenic properties' with 'clinical data trials' which 'have described its overall calming effect on the formatio reticularis.' I have an undergraduate degree in neuroscience, and I have no idea what this is supposed to mean - I can't imagine what someone without a background in neuroscience would make of many of these details.

Overall, I would advise the authors to shorten the article and reorganise its sections using the headings from other GA - rated pharmaceutical articles, such as metformin. I have noticed that a similar structure was used for this article when it was originally nominated, but it has since been changed.

2. Factual accuracy and verifiability: There are many in-line references, but oddly, the footnotes do not link directly to the online sources. I would combine the three subheadings under "references" into a single footnotes section embedded in the text. Also, as stated above, I question whether some of these sources are properly understood by the author.

3. Broad in its coverage: In its current form, the article fails to clearly and succinctly describe the mechanism of action and uses of this drug. Instead, it spends way too much time on basic research of questionable relevance.

4. NPOV: I found no NPOV issues with this article.

5. Stability: This may be the root problem with this article - for reasons I am not familiar with, it appears to be a controversial topic, and has been significantly altered since being GA nominated by ErKURITA on 7 March 2007. Many of my concerns are specific to changes made since then, and I would seriously reccommend reverting to the following version, which predates much of the gibberish: Revision as of 06:25, 10 March 2007 by Alison.

6. Images: The article contains appropriate images for the topic.

I feel obligated to review this article in its current form, and by those criteria, it fails. However, it could potentially be GA quality if it were reverted to a previous form (with a few of the minor issues addressed) & remained stable in that form

1. Review - This article is under or has been partially reviewed by Rustavo 23:31, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Adverse effects

Moved from article by Fvasconcellos 13:28, 24 March 2007 (UTC)

As well as Vomiting being another of the adverse reactions to this medication. Being the only medicine given this day the child was given the dosage on the bottle perscribed by a physician. Within 24 hours said child was sick and vomiting. After he vomited he was screaming and crying as though he were in severe pain. The child finally calmed down after about 2 hours of this and fell asleep.64.72.85.62 10:30, 24 March 2007 (UTC)